Free Reed Magazine

The Wheatstone Bicentenary - 6 Feb 2002

The 200th anniversary of the birth of Sir Charles Wheatstone

PRELIMINARY DRAFT and DISCUSSION NOTES for:
TV Special on: 'WHEATSTONE AND THE CONCERTINA'

1. Summary. The sixth of February 2002 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Sir Charles Wheatstone, the famous physicist and natural philosopher, also well known for his invention of the English Concertina, probably the only uniquely English musical instrument To mark this event, we propose a 45 min to 1 hour TV programme on the origins, history, decline and revival of interest in the concertina, using the resources of the Wayne Concertina collection at the Horniman Museum, their archive recordings, performances by surviving traditional players, and new performances from the wealth of modern players in the folk music, dance, rock, orchestral and chamber soloist disciplines.

We propose much use of visually remarkable instruments and photographic archives, together with live performances from the whole range of players of this most versatile and socially mobile of instruments - music hall, morris musicians, cajun, comedy acts, traditional soloists, street concertina bands, chamber concertina quartets, concertina orchestras performing modern works and use of the instrument in modern rock music. The concertina has, since its invention by Charles Wheatstone in the early 1830's, shown exceptional 'social mobility', and has been embraced by all'classes' and social niches, firstly in British society, and latterly around the world, wherever its charm and convenient size has found a role in a people's music - even today, everyone knows what a concertina IS, though few can describe one in detail (without moving their hands) - and fewer have seen one played!

Our well-known presenters will tell the story of these uniquely British instruments as they travel down the years from 1830 to the present day, in the hands of musicians, enthusiasts, amateurs and collectors. and other events planned are:

A. Exhibition of decorative Wheatstone concertinas and related free reeded instruments at the Horniman Museum.

B. Exhibition of Wheatstone concertina prototypes and free reeded inventions and concertina forerunners, together with a wealth of Wheatstone?s scientific inventions, at the Science Museum.

C. A Radio Two 'Folk-on-Two' special on the concertina's central role in the British Folkmusic revival.

D. Bicentenary features on Radio Four?s Arts & Science programming

E. Release of 4-CD Compact Disc and Book ?The Music of the Concertina? on the Free Reed label.

2. Proposed Presenters. Mike Harding: Main interviewer, link man to other presenters, and player of bass & minature instruments in music hall style.

John Kirkpatrick: Leading player of current revival, both as morris and country dance musician, and as member of leading folk-rock bands (Albion, Steeleye Span, Richard Thompson Band). Will present examples of the use of the concertina in a 'world music' context, based on his BBC Radio series 'Squeezing 'round the World'.

Neil Wayne: Leading authority on the history, invention and development of the concertina and related free-reeded instruments, including the work of Charles Wheatstone and the Wheatstone workshops of the 1830's to 1880's and the spread of many rival firms of concertina makers in the 19th century. Curator and Creator of the Concertina Museum Collection of over 1400 instruments and archive items, now housed at The Horniman Museum, London. Will discuss the early days of the instrument, its eventual decline, and the background to the current revival of interest in Wheatstone and the Concertina.

3. Proposed Personnel and Musicians.

Douglas Rogers: Leading modern exponent of the high Victorian concertina style & repertoire. He has researched and rescued much of the 'lost' repertory of the great virtuosi of the 1840's to 1880's. His concert performances, with grand piano accompaniment and in evening dress, recreate the essence of the Victorian chamber style.

John Kirkpatrick: Britain's leading player of the 'Anglo' system, which he has used in a whole range of styles, from song accompaniment to morris dance (his classic 'Plain Capers' album from 1976, now a cult CD, remains the best celebration of morris music on the concertina) - from ground-breaking solo work to regular service with Richard Thompson's bands and with leading 'folk rock' ensembles, such as Steeleye Span and the 'Morris On!' bands.

Bob Senior: From being a collector of concertinas and soloist of the Victorian repertoire, Bob Senior has become a major catalyst for serious players wishing to re-create the larger concertina ensembles of the late 19th century. He has gathered a unique archive of original Victorian concertina sheet music, dozens of period concert grade instruments, and from his converted bishop's castle near Glastonbury leads the Butleigh Players, an orchestra and chamber group researching and performing the high Victorian repertoire. The Players are currently rehearsing a newly commissioned piece by the New Age composer Brendan Ashe.

Alistair Anderson: Perhaps the best-known concertina soloist in Britain and North America. Since his appearances as the concertina player with Northumberland's 'High Level Ranters' band from the 1960's, Alistair Anderson has immersed himself in the traditional music of his native Northumbria, the Borders and of Shetland & Ireland, using the 'English' system concertina. Alistair now composes works for the concertina, both in the traditional style, and compositions of a more contemporary nature. He is a most dynamic and visually exciting performer.

Bernard Wrigley: His use of the bass and contrabass concertinas, striking singing style and music hall influences make this Bolton-based performer's work an evocation of the northern England popular style of concertina usage.

3. Proposed Outline

a: The current perception of, and misconceptions about, the concertina today. The 'squeeze-box' image, patronisation of the instrument by Walt Disney, confusion with the Piano Accordion, use of the name to describe sliding doors and train crashes!

b: Brief historical introduction Charles Wheatstone's acoustical and musical research prototypes in 1825-30, his creation of fashionable musical 'toys', adoption of the earliest concertinas as a fashionable drawing room novelty by wealthy Victorian enthusiasts and 'amateurs', chamber groups and quartets, rise of internationally-famous soloists (Regondi, Blagrove, The Concertina Quartet.) Rapid rise of many rival manufacturers in Victorian London.

c: The Social Setting of the concertina throughout its history.

1830's- A scientific curio, then a newly fashionable drawing room instrument.

1840's-50's- Very popular 'new' instrument in London high society: much patronised by the nobility and the rich enthusiast, who often ordered instruments with gilt, silver, gold and precious woods. An expensive and exclusive instrument, but beginning to be scorned by 'real' ie serious and more conventional musicians. The concertina fails to become accepted into the mainstream intrumentation of the orchestra, and the rise of new manufacturers to rival Wheatstone's factory, the flow of second hand models, and provision of cheaper models all begin the instrument's social migration to the middle and working classes.

1850's-80's- A spread of new manufacturers of concertinas throughout London, providing a growing and ultimately confusing range of 'new' fingering systems, sizes, compasses and qualities of instrument. As the concertina's social mobility accelerated, it began to be adopted by the Salvation Army, by millworkers in the towns of northern England as an alternate to their brass band instruments, and to appear on the Music Halls in the hands of more populist, less 'serious' musicians. This caused a steady decline in its more upper class patronage, and the manufacturers in turn created the large 'brass-band' and novelty instruments then beginning to become more popular. Cheaper and lower quality models were introduced, and a flood of tawdry and poor quality imports from Saxony, much cheaper than the English makes, entered the country.

1880-1914- This social mobility of the concertina's popularity proceeded apace: It became the Salvation Army's trade mark, with some London makers building instruments to the Army's own designs. It appeared more and more in the hands of buskers, of working class enthusiasts, and consequently its old 'upper class' cachet finally all but disappeared.

from 1918 onwards- In The UK:- A small but tenacious group of mainly middle class 'gentleman' players remained, who were aware of the instrument's 'serious' pretentions, and concentrated on solo and small group performance of the Victorian repertoire, and of the operetta and light opera repertoire of the better concertina bands. The music hall tradition had reached its peak around the turn of the century, though the concertina was treated more & more of a novelty, with whistling and squeaking buttons, giant and miniature versions, and even concertinas that were' destroyed as part of the acts! However, the 'gentleman' player, even after the slaughter of WWI, became the mainstay of the few surviving concertina factories, and quality instruments, at ever rising prices, were in steady production up to WW2, though the ageing players began to decline, and makers closed down

In Europe and the rest of the World:- From as far back as the 1840's, the evolution of the concertina diverged as the Wheatstone pattern was copied and adapted by French, Austrian and German makers. By 1880, the German 'Konzertina' was a large, square button accordeon known as the Bandoneon, which has spread to Argentina (where it is the instrument of the national music - the Tango), to the mid-west of America, where it is the instrument of their polka orchestras, in fact everywhere that German emigration went.

There evolved a highly significant pocket of use of the Anglo system concertina in Co Clare and surrounding counties of western Ireland, which continues to this day, and the Anglo also became the favoured instrument of the Boers of southern Africa, again, still in active use for their 'Boeremusic'. The 'concer' also became the popular instrument of the Australian bushrangers and outback musicians, and specialist importers brought in many specially made models from the remaining London makers.

d. The concertina revival of the last 25 years. Though the post-war decline in popularity of the concertina appeared complete by 1960, the 'gentleman' enthusiasts still existed; In London, around 100 serious players had formed the optimistically-named 'International Concertina Association' and their London-based meetings concentrated on the light-classical and operatic repertoire, with groups working on difficult string quartet music.

Around this time, younger players with an interest in the folk music revival, which was in full swing at the time, began to discover the concertina: some knew of, and had played with, older traditional players such as the Headington Quarry Morris musician William Kimber, who had influenced Cecil Sharp at the very start of the study of Britain's traditional music, and Scan Tester, famed Sussex country dance musician - both of whom played their robust music on the Anglo system, rather than the more' serious' English system favoured by the classical, more urban, 'gentlemen' players.

Younger enthusiasts such as Phil Ham, Reg Hall, Rod Stradling, Alistair Anderson, John Kirkpatrick, Tony McCarthy, were all influenced by contact with older, traditional musicians, whilst the collector and historian Neil Wayne made early contact with the older players of the International Concertina Association, and as well as documenting the 'lost' history of the instrument, went on to record many older players, and to produce an internationally circulated concertina enthusiasts' magazine 'Free Reed - The Concertina Newsletter'. By the early 1970's, these two groups had begun to meet, as a result of the 'Concertina Conventions' organised by Neil Wayne and Free Reed magazine readers. These were large gatherings of both folk-revival players and the older players and surviving bands which were held at around 16 venues around Great Britain from 1970 to 1977, and which introduced many new enthusiasts to the instrument and its rich and varied heritage.

At the present time, new manufacturers are springing up, specialist meetings and tuition weekends are held regularly, and the instrument is being used for yet wider ranges of music, not only in Britain, but all round the world!! The history of the instrument is written, the Wayne Concertina Museum?s Collection of over 1400 exhibits by all known makers, and its holdings of original music, catalogues, factory records and archives is now preserved and destined for display at The Horniman Museum. Furthermore, enthusiasts all over the world are documenting the history of the concertina in their countries, and preserving and performing the music created for it.

Conclusion These draft notes need your comments and input: We feel that a serious TV programme on this most charming and 'English' of instruments, to mark the bicentenary of the Birth of its inventor Sir Charles Wheatstone, is so long overdue, and your help in the creation of this programme would be much appreciated!

Neil Wayne and John Kirkpatrick

My URL: http://come.to/concertinas